Land, Sea, and Order
by Writer'sBlockSurvivor
Summary: Kaelyn and Ryder are important officials in the Unovan government, and a couple, and the two are highly revered by the population. Teams Magma and Aqua, in the Hoenn region, stop being urban legends and turn into real threats, threats the governments of each region collaborate to stop. Kaelyn and Ryder are sent to Hoenn to stop these teams, and bump into an all-too-familiar face.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own none of the Pokémon in this series, nor do I own a handful of appearing characters, all of those belong to Nintendo/Game Freak/4kids. Any other characters belong to me**

 **So, I feel like I need to set a few ground rules, the only reason trainers can carry around six Pokémon is because of a universal law, but if you happen to be a high-ranking official for the law, you can be exempt from that rule (only in this universe, though) just like that four move limit, just another law from the government that you can also be exempt of due to your job title. Also, in this universe Eevee can now learn Hyper Beam, because this is my story and I can do what I want. Finally, this is my first fanfic, I have no idea if it's actually good or not, and I** _ **really**_ **hope you enjoy.**

Eevee nuzzled her head into the back of Kaelyn's calf, making her giggle at the sensation. She leaned down and scratched the top of Eevee's head and quickly fed her a bite of a granola bar.

"Are you two going to get up or not? We need to go, the streets are about to fill up," Ryder leaned against their apartment door with Zorua, both waiting for the girls.

"Okay, just let me grab my phone," Kaelyn rushed into their bedroom, and Eevee bounded over to Ryder and Zorua, the two Pokémon quickly nuzzled and Kaelyn returned to scoop up Eevee. She gave Ryder a quick kiss on the cheek, before being ushered out of the apartment, still holding Eevee, with Ryder and Zorua on her heels.

They hurriedly rushed out of their apartment building and stopped on the sidewalk. Kaelyn rested Eevee down on the ground and Zorua pranced over to stand beside her. Eevee glanced to the side at Zorua and affectionately licked his cheek, both Ryder and Kaelyn chuckled at the two Pokémon. Ryder squatted down and told the Pokémon, "now, because this sidewalk and these streets are about to get super busy, you two have to go in your Poke-balls, okay?"

Both Pokémon pouted but didn't put up a fight when their trainers summoned them into their Poke-balls. Ryder stood back up and wrapped a protective arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, she kissed him quickly then looked at all of the advertisements flashing around them, living in Castelia City meant you were never out of the glow of marketing and entertainment. There were constant ads for musicals and food products moving around on the sides of buildings. Both lovers looked over to the Ribbon Cup Headquarters, where an ad for a new men's clothing line just started playing.

They started walking along the sidewalk towards a relatively new park in the city where they were to meet Liz, Ryder's twin sister and Kaelyn's best friend. Liz, or Elizabeth, had won the Ribbon Cup three years in a row, and she was training to make this year her fourth consecutive win.

They eventually got to the park and saw Liz sitting on a bench, her Fennekin playing around her feet. She liked around and saw the couple watching her and rushed over to hug Kaelyn, "hey, Lizzie," she chuckled. Liz' golden blonde hair tickled her nose, she was so short, unlike her twin who was quite tall. Then again, the two looked nothing alike, the only evidence of them being twins other than their birthdays were their eyes, those were identical down to the last olive fleck. Otherwise the twins couldn't be more different in appearance, Ryder had fiery red hair, unlike Liz' blonde hair; they had completely different noses and mouths; Ryder's features were striking and defined, making him insanely handsome, while, on the other hand, Liz' features were soft, gentle, pretty. You could say Ryder was like a Jolteon and Liz was like Sylveon, in fact, their father said that exact thing.

Kaelyn had shiny, hazelnut hair and deep blue eyes like a Jumpluff. She was of average height and had natural curves, but in other places, like her arms and stomach, she was thin and toned. She had similar facial features to Liz, but had plumper lips and lacked dimples. Her eyes were much more catlike and seductive while Liz' were innocent like a doe. She had been hailed as being extremely beautiful by men and women alike and knew she was a person countless people lusted after. Her looks and friendship with Ryder were the only way she would've been able to date such a handsome and muscular man. When they were all teenagers, Kaelyn had noticed that Liz' body and face seemed to just be a much more innocent version of her own.

Liz pulled away from Kaelyn and was pulled into a bear hug by Ryder, who even picked her up off the ground a little bit. He put her back down and she looked at them quizzically. "What?" Ryder asked in confusion.

"Where are Eevee and Zorua, Fennekin was looking forward to playing with them…"

"Oh yeah," Kaelyn muttered as she pulled Eevee's Poke-ball from her pocket and let her back out. Eevee squealed in delight to being out of her confines, and, upon noticing Fennekin, rushed over to her, they both immediately started to chase each other and chatter away.

Ryder also sent out Zorua, who joined the two female Pokémon and both started chasing him once he got within five feet of them. All three of them laughed quickly then Liz said, "so, can I show you guys my new routine with Pachirisu?"

"Sure, but only if I get to kidnap Amelia later," Kaelyn said.

Ryder sighed and muttered, "you know, there are times when I think you like my niece even more than me…."

"She's so adorable, though," Kaelyn looked up at her boyfriend with a small smile.

"She has to be, I'm her mom for God's sake," Liz said and threw her hair off of her shoulder. The other two laughed again and Liz sent out Pachirisu, "Pachirisu, Light Screen!" The Pokémon immediately followed her orders and was surrounded by a shimmering wall of light.

Both Ryder and Kaelyn watched intently as Pachirisu then performed Rain Dance and the world darkened. Pachirisu created what looked like a small sun by using Electro Ball, it was left suspended in the air, a glimmering beacon, leading passers-by to flock towards the presentation. Pachirisu then used Thunderbolt, the mass amount of electricity visible as the Pokémon charged the attack. Finally, Thunderbolt was unleashed and the Light Screen shattered. In an instant the rain had stopped, the light was back and the Electro Ball disappeared.

Ryder and Kaelyn were left in awe, both amazed at the skill of Liz' Pokémon. "There's no way anyone could top that," Ryder muttered absently.

"Uh-huh," Kaelyn agreed in the same state as him.

Liz giggled at her best friend and her twin before picking Pachirisu up walking over to the two of them. Pachirisu prodded Ryder's arm with his petite nose, Ryder snapped back to reality and pulled a piece of candy out of his pocket and fed it to Pachirisu.

"So, why did you ask to show your routine to us anyways, we were supposed to go to your Competition next weekend…" Kaelyn inquired.

"Jake told me last night at dinner that he had to send you two out for a job, so you'd miss it, he also said it's going to be a long mission. I don't know what you're supposed to be doing, though." Liz said and hugged Kaelyn again, preemptively saying goodbye to her best friend, in the way they always did, without words.

"At least we'll be working a job together, and you still have a husband and daughter Lizzie, so don't act like we're you completely alone!" Ryder said to break the silence.

"I wasn't trying to…"

"I-I didn't mean it like that," he quickly stuttered when he saw his sister's genuine look of sadness. "Oh God."

"Okay, tire's no reason to be sad!" Kaelyn rushed to announce. "There's a reason we have smartphones!"

"Ye-yeah, we'll call you a-and stuff whenever you want!" Ryder added.

That seemed to cheer Liz up and she bounced back to her normally bubbly self, "okay!"

Ryder and Kaelyn looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. "I still find it really odd that Jake would send his two highest level employees out on one mission. I mean, does he really need both his Captain and his General to take on one task?" Kaelyn looked to the sky as she asked the question. "It does seem odd, you're his right-hand, he normally likes to keep you here at all times if possible," Ryder muttered, looking directly at Kaelyn.

"Well, it must mean that whatever you're going to do will be important!" Liz announced.

"How are you so excited about everything?" Kaelyn looked at her.

"Well, for once, my daughter won't want to constantly have a sleepover at your apartment, so, that'll be nice." "You do spoil the girl…" both twins looked at Kaelyn, one glaring at her, the other with an entertained smile.

"But three is _such_ a cute age! You can't tell me she's not the most adorable thing ever!" Kaelyn begged with both of them.

"Just don't tell that to Eevee, or she'll kill you, but I do agree with you." Ryder walked over to his girlfriend and wrapped and arm around her.

"Sounds good," Kaelyn said, and both girls nodded.

They all turned around when they heard a thump and the loud rustle of the bushes around them. Zorua fell face first onto the ground, causing Liz to let out a pitiful giggle. Both Fennekin and Eevee emerged from the bushes too, all three Pokémon were visibly exhausted, Eevee sat down at Kaelyn's feet, and, after he managed to get back up, Zorua sat beside Eevee. Fennekin walked towards Liz, who returned Pachirisu to its Poke-ball and plucked Fennekin off the ground.

Kaelyn leaned down to pull Eevee into her arms, who curled up in her arms, hiding her face against Kaelyn's chest. Kaelyn cooed at her cute and fluffy Pokémon, Ryder scratched behind her ears, making Eevee purr. Zorua sat staring up at Ryder expectantly, he reached down and scratched his head right behind his red tuft of hair.

"Bye, Lizzie," Kaelyn said.

"Bye, I'll text you, or something, later, okay?"

"Okay," Kaelyn replied.

Ryder hugged his twin quickly before turning around with Kaelyn and walking back to their apartment. "So, what do you think we're supposed to be doing, for this 'super long and important job,'" Ryder asked and walked just behind Kaelyn.

"I dunno, but I'm guessing Jake will tell us tomorrow at work," she shrugged.

"Probably."

"Now, let's get home so I can give Eevee and Zorua a bath so the three of us can take a nap together," Kaelyn picked up her pace and powered through the crowd on the heavily congested sidewalk.

Ryder and Zorua rushed to catch up with her and once they did, Ryder asked, "so why am I not involved in this little nap session?"

"It's your turn to buy groceries, that's why."

"Why can't we do that together?"

"We normally do, and we _really_ need to buy more food."

"Fine, but only if you'll let me buy Oreos."

"Okay, but I get to eat some of them," she growled through her teeth.

"Cool with me," he said, satisfied.

They finally made it back to their apartment and Kaelyn made a beeline for the bathroom, still carrying Eevee and Zorua followed her. She kneeled and started the bath, making sure the water wasn't too warm. Once the tub was halfway filled, she lightly pet Eevee to wake her up and lifted her into the water, she also put Zorua into the bath. Kaelyn pulled her sleeves up and grabbed the Pokémon shampoo from the counter. She squeezed a large dollop into her hand and rubbed it into Eevee's head and her puffy scarf of fur around her neck. Kaelyn also rubbed shampoo all over Zorua and finished lathering Eevee with the soap. Zorua hummed in delight as his head got scratched while Kaelyn was washing him.

She quickly rinsed the Pokémon so all the soap was gone and drained the tub. She lifted Eevee out of the bath and dried her off with a towel. The same was done to Zorua, but Kaelyn then cocooned him in the towel, giving him only a comfortable amount of wiggle-room. He thrashed around in the towel, much to the girl's amusement, both of whom giggled. Water was splashed and soaked her shirt, but Kaelyn didn't pay it any mind and soon let Zorua out of the towel. He was obviously quite aggravated, but Kaelyn picked up both Pokémon, now dry, and placed them on the bed.

Eevee immediately laid down in the immaculately made bed (there was a reason that Kaelyn always got Ryder to make the bed) and Zorua curled protectively around her. Kaelyn pulled off her soaking shirt, and, because she was too lazy to search for another, she rested on the bed beside Eevee and pulled both Pokémon into a hug before dozing off.

Ryder came back home and called out to see if Kaelyn might have left to meet someone or do something. When he got no answer, he set the groceries down on the kitchen counter and walked back to the bedroom, he saw Kaelyn and the two Pokémon curled up together, all sleeping, and smiled. He quickly put all of the groceries away and walked back to the bedroom.

He softly moved the hair away from her face before whispering, "babe, you need to wake up." Kaelyn squeaked and turned to nuzzle her face against her boyfriend. Ryder laughed and nudged her again, "please."

Kaelyn made another quiet noise and sat up. "Not fair, I was just getting to the good part of my dream!"

"Could it have had anything to do with me?" Ryder said as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"No," Kaelyn said simply. Ryder looked genuinely disappointed, so Kaelyn kissed his cheek and sat closer to him. Ryder chuckled and opened his arms, enveloping her in a hug and pulling her into his lap, Kaelyn softly nuzzled his chest.

"It's not fair," Ryder pouted. "You're too damn cute!" He tackled her so she was on top of their pillows and began kissing her neck with fervor. He felt Kaelyn rest her cheek against his head and smiled.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," Ryder pulled his shirt over his head and laid back over his girlfriend. "So, Captain, do I have permission to continue?"

Kaelyn chuckled, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down so they could share a deep, hungry kiss. "Of course, General," she said once they pulled apart. Eevee's tail moved in her sleep and tickled Kaelyn's arm. "We should probably move; they don't need to observe."

Ryder wrapped her legs around his waist and carried her to the living room and laid Kaelyn back down on the couch. "it's not fair those Pokémon get our bed and we have to screw on the sofa…."

"It's not that bad, plus they're our fluffy buddies." Ryder raised an eyebrow, but quickly got distracted when Kaelyn leaned up to kiss him again. "Go get a condom."

"Yes, ma'am," Ryder rushed towards their bedroom to follow her command. Once he returned, they resumed their actions, whispering to each other every now and then.

Both lovers had clothed themselves again and woken up their Pokémon and were now curled up on the couch, eating slices of pizza. Eevee was laying on top of Kaelyn's feet and Zorua sat in the chair next to Ryder. Zorua purred when Ryder scratched his head and tore off a piece of his slice to feed him. Eevee got up and walked up Kaelyn's legs and snuggled into her lap. "I love this," Kaelyn whispered and rested her head on Ryder's shoulder.

"Me too," he agreed, "and I _really_ don't want to go into work tomorrow."

"Why?"

"We have to get a new assignment, which means we'll need to travel and our bed is so comfy," when Ryder said those last words, he rolled his head backwards and groaned.

"Hotel beds are not that bad."

"Well, yeah, but, you know, still…" Ryder just shrugged and tore a bite from his pizza.

"You like home…" Kaelyn muttered teasingly, Ryder looked away when she leaned closer to pester him. "Well, you're right that we have to start packing up for our new assignment tomorrow, which probably means we'll need our rest." Kaelyn said as she collected their plates off the coffee table, Eevee squealed as she nearly fell off Kaelyn's lap as she rose to stand.

"If you're going to take my plate, can you grab me a napkin?"

"sure, but only because tonight's your night to do the dishes."

"Fine."

"Now, I'm going to hop in the shower and get ready for bed, I'll see you back there shortly, right?" Kaelyn raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer from her boyfriend.

"Sounds good," he muttered. Kaelyn smiled and rushed away, with Eevee following her to jump on their bed and burrow under their comforter. Zorua saw what the other Pokémon was doing and quickly followed suit, cuddling with her and the heavy blanket.

Ryder sighed and forced himself to get up and start cleaning the kitchen. He was in no way looking forward to tomorrow.

 **How was it? I know I can do better, but, hey... Please tell me if it's okay, and tell me just what you think in general, I like constructive criticism. And, yes, I am aware that this chapter was almost 3,000 words long, and, yes, you might have to expect that if you plan on following this story. Hope you enjoyed and I might be a decent writer.**


	2. Chapter 2

Kaelyn hummed when she felt Ryder pull her closer, she never liked waking up, sleeping with Ryder's arms wrapped around her was one of Kaelyn's favorite things in the world. She nuzzled his chest and closed her eyes, sheltering herself from the sun's rays filtering in through the windows.

Ryder looked down at Kaelyn and lightly kissed her head, "morning, babe."

Kaelyn whimpered and pushed even closer to him. Ryder laughed and kissed her head, "c'mon, I know this is cozy, but neither of us can sleep forever."

"I know," Kaelyn groaned, "we like work too much."

"Very, very true." Ryder rolled on top of her and gave her a deep, hungry kiss, sliding a hand under her waist and pulling their hips together as he did so.

"If I have to wake up, at least it's like that," Kaelyn chuckled. She slid out from under him and walked over to their bathroom, swaying her hips for Ryder. A few minutes later, as Kaelyn was brushing her teeth, Ryder came in and joined her. After she went through her usual routine, and Ryder was already dressed, obviously, she found a dress and pulled it on, over her head.

Ryder was making omelets when he looked up and saw his girlfriend, "well don't you look pretty today?"

"According to you, I'm more than pretty, every day." She walked beside Ryder and quickly pulled a few spices out of the cabinet to assist Ryder and rested her head on his shoulder.

He kissed her head and mutter, "it's not just me who thinks like that…. I just happen to be the lucky one who has you."

"It's times like this when I slightly regret telling you to go to hell all these years. And it's not fair that you're a better chef than me!"

"One: it hasn't stopped you yet, and, two: that's why I dread the days when it's your turn to cook, unless you're making grilled cheese, then I'm ready to eat a dozen."

"I hate you."

"I hate you too," Ryder kissed her quickly before setting their breakfast on two plates and handing one to Kaelyn, who pulled out two forks and passed one to him.

Zorua's nose twitched in his sleep as he smelled the scent wafting from his trainer's breakfast, he slowly woke up and had to quickly pull his arm out from under Eevee, so she wouldn't wake, of course. He quickly gave her head a soft lick and pranced over to the kitchen sitting down promptly at Ryder's feet. Both humans looked at each other, chuckled, then Ryder knocked a healthy bite off of his plate for Zorua who quickly scarfed it down. Kaelyn laughed set her plate on the counter before squatting down and picking up Zorua, the blood-red fur of the tuft in the top of his head tickled her nose. Zorua snuggled his head into her and swished his black tail back and forth, so the red tip brushed Kaelyn's cheek.

Ryder smiled at the two then walked over to the Pokémon's bed and softly woke Eevee she purred softly then sat up, when she saw Kaelyn and Zorua she bounded over to them and jumped onto the counter allowing her to climb on her trainer's shoulder. "Comfy?" She muttered.

Eevee nodded in response and Zorua leaped out of her arms and walked over to Ryder, who was picking their phones and keys off the table, waiting for Kaelyn to move so they could leave. Kaelyn sighed and unlocked the door walking to the elevator so they could get to the lobby, with Ryder and Zorua in toe.

They finally made it to their office on the other side of town my hopping on one of the fast moving street cars. Their office building was a classic high rise, with windows lining each side and both had their own grand office, Kaelyn's a little nicer because she was second in command.

She was alone in her office with only Eevee, reading over a new treaty with Sinnoh. Both Unova and Sinnoh were military and trade powerhouses, Unova having a slight edge over Sinnoh in the military sense, with the best and most extensively trained militia in the world. The treaty was based on trade, each would give certain products out of their surpluses to each other each year, and, if the time ever arose, would fight alongside each other if a war were to break. It was written nearly a week ago and approved by everyone on the board, but Kaelyn had to proof it to make sure it was perfect before presenting it the Sinnoh government. Eevee sat at attention on her desk watching Kaelyn pace back and forth with the document.

There was a soft knocking on her office door, "come in," she said loudly, not taking her eyes off the treaty.

The grand wooden door opened and Damien walked in with his Luxray, who kept on walking towards Kaelyn and sat at her feet, Kaelyn squatted down and scratched the top of the Pokémon's head, "hi," she whispered, Luxray made a small noise of content in response.

Damien stopped in front of her and muttered shortly, "morning."

"Morning to you too, grumpy," Kaelyn smirked at him and set the papers down on her desk.

"Sorry, I didn't have time for coffee this morning," he shrugged. After he said this, Eevee bounded off the desk and rushed over to start playing with Luxray, who happily ran out onto the balcony after the small Pokémon.

"I can tell, I still remember when we were dating, if you didn't have your coffee you would bitch all fucking day long. Still haven't changed, I see..." she rested her arms on the desk behind her and leaned against it, casually.

"Whatever. I still find it _so_ odd how Ryder is totally fine with us hanging out," Damien crossed his arms.

"The man trusts me, and rightfully so, I don't miss you at all. Now, what do you need?"

"Just wanted to see if the rumors about the big mission you and Ryder are getting are true."

"I honestly have no idea, but Lizzie told us about it and said Jake was the one who told her. The man's not dumb enough to lie to his wife, especially Lizzie."

"No shit, I can just picture you tearing out his heart while Ryder bashes his head in, the deadliest couple on the face of this planet... how beautiful."

"I have to agree, we are a deadly combination, but Jake hasn't called a meeting with either of us, so everyone'll have to just wait and see, maybe then I won't even tell you. You don't need to know everything about me, creep."

"This is the reason I hate talking to you," he muttered under his breath.

"I've got work to do, and I know you do too, and probably a girl waiting to suck you too," Kaelyn said and tilted her head to the door.

"You're never going to let that die, are you?" Damien asked as he left and motioned for Luxray to follow him.

"When hell freezes over!" Kaelyn yelled after him, Eevee came back from the balcony and sat on the couch Kaelyn kept in her office. Kaelyn sat down with a huff beside Eevee and asked, "have I read that treaty too much?"

Eevee nodded her head and climbed in her trainer's lap, closing her eyes to nap. After a few moments of silence, Kaelyn moved Eevee off her lap and shot up, "let's go down to the training center, we don't need to wait here for Jake!" Eevee rolled her large eyes and followed Kaelyn to the elevator where she sat on her feet in spite. Kaelyn punched the button to the second floor and stood in wait.

The elevator dinged once the doors opened, she stepped out and was greeted by a crowd of smiles, all belonging to just more than a dozen interns, all hopefuls in the political field, and the best workers possible. She smiled back at them, the crowd parted and let her through, Eevee pranced through proudly, making a few of the interns chuckle.

Kaelyn saw Bryan at an open space in a corner of the facility, she grinned and rushed over to him, his Serperior sat elegantly behind him. "Boo," Kaelyn whispered and tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, Kaelyn," Bryan muttered, "I'm guessing you'd like a battle?" He turned to face her and threw a Pokéball at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir. And I'd like to fight Serperior!"

"Well, then," he stepped into his place on one end of the field, Kaelyn ran to the other end, with Eevee following her. Kaelyn stepped into her place opposite Bryan, he sent Serperior onto the floor and let her block Kaelyn's view of him.

Kaelyn smirked and pulled a Pokéball from her hip, she held it for a second then threw it at Serperior, "Absol, I choose you!" She shouted. Absol appeared out of thin air, standing, braced for a fight, with her teeth bared, the black blade protruding from her magnificent white coat, shining like a beacon on her head.

"Interesting," Bryan muttered but quickly set his mind back on the battle and ordered, "Serperior, Leaf Blade!"

"Absol dodge it!" Absol bounded over Serperior's head and landed behind her, already preparing her next move, "Night Slash!" Kaelyn announced again.

Absol's blade shone even stronger than before, she rushed at Serperior, trowing her body at the regal snake, slashing against it's skin. Serperior moved around Absol, hiding the fact that the attack took quite a toll on her. Bryan openly looked conflicted, he quickly called, "Leaf Storm!" Serperior summoned a forest's worth of sharp edged leaves which moved around the Pokémon, discreetly following Absol as she tried to avoid them.

A swarm of leaves caught Absol, leaving her stuck as she forced herself to ignore it, "Let's finish this!" Kaelyn looked warmly at the disaster Pokémon, "Flamethrower!" Absol immediately followed orders and turned towards Serperior, opening her mouth and letting a massive spiral of flames emerge from it's mouth. The move covered so much ground there was no way Serperior could escape it without leaving the ring, thus giving the match to Kaelyn. Serperior was engulfed by the fire and once the flames dissipated, the grass type had clearly fainted from the hit. Absol walked triumphantly toward Kaelyn who squatted down to scratch the top of her head and feed her a candy from her pocket. She smiled contentedly at her Pokémon and hugging her.

Bryan walked over to his Serperior and returned her to her Pokeball, he had a sad smile on his face, not proud of his loss or letting his Serperior faint. Kaelyn also returned her Absol and bounded over to Bryan. "Thanks, I really needed a distraction," Kaelyn rubbed his arm when she saw his dissapointment.

He moved his arm away and nodded, "yeah, I'm glad I could help."

"I also saw that interview with John last night, thanks for saying all that stuff, it was nice."

"It was easy, it's not like a needed to lie, you really do light up when you talk about making life for all of our citizens amazing and you truly care about them. That's something everyone should respect, although, frankly, there are too many reasons we all need to respect you."

"Thanks, that really does mean a lot, the only person I hear such genuine stuff from is Ryder, nice to know someone else cares about me."

"Shut up, a lot of people care about you," he playfully punched her shoulder and they started walking away from the battle area.

"You know what I mean, you two care about more than just one part of me."

"Understandable," Kaelyn smiled and stopped when Eevee ran in front of her and sat at her feet. Bryan saw both of them and chuckled.

"What do you need, sweetie," Kaelyn's voiced jumped a few octaves as she squatted down to Eevee's level. Eevee rubbed her nose against Kaelyn's arm and jumped into her arms, Kaelyn smiled and kissed the top of her head and stood back up. She continued walking, Bryan sped up for a second to catch up to her and they continued walking in line sometimes muttering to each other, but mostly just observing everything around them. Without even looking down, Kaelyn could tell Eevee was doing the same, her large ears pushing against Kaelyn's chest whenever she turned her head.

Both Kaelyn and Bryan stopped abruptly when they saw Jake standing around the corner, looking directly at them. "What did you do now?" Bryan whispered harshly.

"I've got no idea, just a little terrified," she whispered back. They both flinched when Eevee squealed, they heard a chuckle and looked towards Jake who was smiling at the two.

"Need to hide from someone?" He raised an eyebrow and continued watching the two.

"No-no, not at all, in fact we were just looking for you," Kaelyn said as she stepped away from the wall, and Bryan followed suit.

"Good, I was looking for you too," Jake smirked after he spoke. Bryan released a sigh of relief that he wasn't in any sort of trouble and silently let Kaelyn know he was going back to his office.

"So what do you need?" Kaelyn asked after Bryan left.

"I need to talk to you and Ryder in my office." Jake waited for Kaelyn to nod and walk to his office with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Ash laughed heartily as he watched Brock attempt to teach Misty how to use their portable grill. He sat down on a rock, his loyal Pikachu watched the both of them struggle from a distance.

"I give up!" A defeated Misty shouted as she threw her hands in the air in frustration. Vulpix and Togepi both stared at the scene from their seats beside Ash, Vulpix getting bored and curling up into a ball to take a nap. Ash smiled at him and reached down to scratch behind the Pokémon's orange-red ears.

"Brock, you know it's bad when your own Pokémon likes me better than you!" Ash yelled across the clearing, Brock simply glared at him and sharply flipped him the bird. Ash laughed again and put his arm around Misty after she sat on the rock beside him. Brock continued to prepare their lunch alone as Misty and Ash sat together in peaceful silence.

Misty rested her head on Ash's shoulder and sighed, "happy sixteenth birthday…."

Ash looked at her and smiled, "I don't care about all of that other stuff, still a _much_ better birthday than last year. The lack of starvation is nice," he kissed the top of her head then scratched behind Pikachu's ears when he leaped onto Ash's lap.

"Pika!" Pikachu announced, Misty smiled and started petting Pikachu too.

"Okay, lovebirds, come on, lunch is ready," Brock was laying paper plates filled with mouthwatering food on a picnic blanket. Misty and Ash smiled each other, she picked up Togepi and walked towards the picnic with Ash and Pikachu following behind. They all sat down and started to eat, telling jokes and laughing all the while and Vulpix and Pikachu played with Togepi a few feet away.

Ash leaned over to Misty and whispered, "this is a great birthday just because you are _finally_ my girlfriend." After hearing this, Misty giggled and kissed his cheek.

"Stop rubbing your love in my face," Brock muttered.

"How _is_ your track record with the ladies?" Misty laughed.

"As shitty as it ever was…" Brock fell back on the ground and covered his face with his hands.

"You'll find someone eventually, it's not like you're unattractive, that is _definitely_ not the case," Misty said, looking Brock over quite a few times.

"Such a comforting sentence coming from my girlfriend about my best friend," Ash had a look of faux-worry on his face and wrapped a possessive arm around her.

Misty and Brock laughed and Misty looked Ash over too and said, "well, you aren't half bad yourself, if you weren't, I wouldn't be dating you." Ash's eyed lit up in amusement and Brock bellowed quite loudly.

"Brutal honesty, exactly what I expected when I met you," Ash said.

Misty stayed quiet and jabbed Ash's side with her elbow, after a few seconds she said, "well, at least you'll always know how I feel about you."

Brock suddenly sat straight and crossed his legs, nodding his head as if what Misty just said was some sort of valid point in an intellectual argument, "very, very true," he muttered. Ash and Misty snickered once Vulpix pranced over and relaxed on Brock's lap, he almost immediately came out of his act and gave all of his attention to his Pokémon, who was just waiting for some food and was quickly satisfied.

"Do you think that's the love of his life there?" Ash whispered into Misty's ear, she snickered and they continued eating, watching Brock give his full-fledged attention to his Pokémon.

"God, I kind of really hope so," Misty smiled again and pulled Togepi into her lap, leaning against Ash.

They had walked into town a few minutes ago, when Misty abruptly pulled Ash, Brock, and Pikachu over to a shop. It looked like it was fully stocked with premium Pokémon attire and any other supplies you might want for competitions. The boys were rushed into the shop by Misty, where a flock of employees swarmed them, Misty went into immediate conversation with a sky blue haired assistant. "I thought this was supposed to be _my_ birthday…" Ash muttered to Brock.

"Just go with it," Brock whispered, "give her some time, then we can do what you want.

Another worker walked over to them and said, in a voice suggesting he was even more out of his element than them, "is there anything you might need?"

"No, no" Brock assured him, "our friend over there just kind of dragged us in here." He pointed to Misty, who was looking at special treats lined up in glass containers along a wall.

They walked over to Misty, who was still talking with the assistant as she examined the ingredients of the numerous treats. "Did you know that Elizabeth Glover actually gets all of her supplies from here?" The assistant was telling Misty as the boys approached.

Ash watched as Misty and Brock, much to his surprise, both lit up. "No way!" Misty whispered harshly.

"Yep," the girl assured.

"Wait, who's Elizabeth Glover?" Ash asked in confusion.

The assistant and Misty both whipped their heads around to glare at him, "she's only the winner of the last three Ribbon Cups, she really is the best of the best!"

"Oh, okay then." Ash looked at his feet shortly.

"I think that was her way of dumping you…" Brock whispered to him.

"Seems so."

The assistant continued their conversation about the renowned trainer, "you know, I heard that she gets trained in battle by Captain Ketchum of Unova! I mean, could you believe it, two of the strongest trainers in the world, battling so the other could succeed in life? God, what I wouldn't give to meet those two…."  
"But I thought Elizabeth bought her stuff here…" Misty said in question.

"She does, but because she lives all the way in Unova, we have to ship it to her."  
"Oh," Misty said, "I always find it so cool that you have the same last name as Captain Ketchum, Ash." She turned to him.

"I guess the name just brings power," Ash smiled jokingly and crossed his arms.

"Sure, if it helps you sleep at night," Brock said as he rolled his eyes. Both girls giggled at them and Pikachu sat at Misty's feet, looking intently at the treats in Misty's hands.

"Is he your Pokémon, he's so cute!" the assistant cooed.

"No, he's actually mine, and he's badass, not _cute_." Ash crossed his arms and Misty giggled at him.

"Sure," the assistant rolled her eyes, "anyways, feel free to sample any of the treats here!" She scampered off to help other customers and Misty gave a treat to Pikachu.

He happily ate it out of her hand and had a look of contentment on his face while he was chewing, "I'm guessing it was good?" Misty chuckled.

Pikachu nodded fervently then looked at Ash begging him to buy a jarful. Ash rolled his eyes and stuck his hand in his pocket, "fine." All four of them approached the counter and Misty set the jarful of treats down on the counter, and Ash passed his wallet to her.

"Now, we get to do stuff I want to…" Ash whispered to his girlfriend.

Once they finally paid for their treats, Brock stuck the jar in his backpack and told his companions, "I'm going to go do my own thing, so you guys can have a little alone time."  
"Cool," Ash said, "you wouldn't mind it if you took Pikachu and Togepi with you, right?"  
"No, not at all," Brock assured him. Pikachu shuffled over to Brock, standing just at his feet and Togepi was passed to him too, he nodded goodbye to his two friends and swiftly left.

Ash and Misty also left the shop, a few steps behind their Pokémon and Brock, just a few steps outside the shop, Misty turned and stopped Ash, "contrary to what you might believe, I _do_ love you." She whispered as she held his face in her hands.

"I know, and I love you too," they softly kissed before walking down the street, whipping their heads around to take in the sights, sounds, and people rushing around.

The town they were in was a decently sized city, it was no Castelia or Jubilife City, but it was definitely bigger than Ash's hometown, Palette Town, where he, Misty, and Brock spent Christmas last year with his mother. Ash was always close to her because his father had left about half a year before he was born, according to his mother, he never met his dad and he would always hate the man for how sad he left his mother, she was the last person who deserved it. Ash also always hypothesized that he might've had a sibling, he never knew what might've happened to them, or if they were even still alive, but his mom always acted like there was another child that she constantly worried about.

He wrapped and arm around Misty's shoulder and directed them towards a stall with an oddly large crowd surrounding it. All of the pedestrians seemed to be entranced by whatever was happening, but, after quite a struggle, Ash was able to shoulder Misty and himself through the crowd. "What the hell is going on?" She whispered to him.

A man was standing behind the stall, preaching about some sort of miracle potion for Pokémon, claiming that his potions were made of some concoction he created himself to _enhance_ a part of the Pokémon's brain, in order to make it much stronger than it should ever be and almost impossible for your Pokémon to faint. Ash and Misty rolled their eyes, they are both familiar with this kind of fraudulent advertisements.

"I bet he's made a ton of money off some poor, desperate, credulous kids," Misty whispered to him and turned to leave the crowd.

Ash caught her arm and she turned to look at him in disbelief, "you don't actually believe this idiot, do you?"

"No, of course not, but some of these people do, I don't want them to blow all of their money on this guy. No one should be able to scam people like this!"

"What are you going to do about it, Ash?" Misty was slightly annoyed that he was focused on all of these strangers and not on spending good time with her.

"Confront this bastard, obviously," he said bluntly and pushed his way to the front of the crowd, leaving Misty behind, annoyed and exasperated at his Hero Complex. Ash's hands made a loud slamming sound as they landed on the stall's counter. "I've got to admit, I don't believe you at all, so let's see if this shit actually works."

The vendor looked shocked and slightly worried, but quickly calmed and asked softly, "are you suggesting a Pokémon battle?"

"Of course," Ash whispered dangerously.

"Fine, then." The vendor smirked confidently and the crowd burst into whispers, eventually dispersing and creating a large ring where both could battle. Ash gazed at the crowd and found Misty's eyes and an exasperated smile, he flashed her a large grin before turning back to his opponent with a proud glare in his eyes, who had almost the exact same expression. "Ludicolo, go!"  
Ash's eyes lit up, and he shouted, "Gliscor!"

The vendor raised his eyebrow and Ash responded smugly by saying, "I thought I might give you a little leverage, sort of…."

"Fine with me," the man shrugged. "Waterfall!"

"Gliscor try and dodge it!" Gliscor was able to avoid the brunt of the attack but still had to regain its balance after being hit by the edge, Ash looked at his Pokémon and assessed its current state then shouted, "Acrobatics!" Glister swooped down and hit Ludicolo with all of its power, leaving the Pokémon stumbling backward, trying to regain control of itself.

The vendor grumbled under his breath, then commanded, "Rock Smash!" Ludicolo ran for Gliscor, who fell back after the punch, Ash waited for Glister to respond and breathed a sigh of relief when it rose again, he quickly stole a glance at Misty, whose eyes were glowing and focused on the battle and nothing else.

Ash smiled then turned his focus back to the battle, "Poison Jab," Gliscor immediately followed Ash's orders and punctured the Ludicolo, who fell and fainted afterward.

The crowd gasped and suddenly started shouting, some at Ash, some at the blatant fraud of a miracle worker. The pedestrians quickly turned into a mob and Misty had to shove her way to find Ash, who was lost in the sea of people, he already managed to get Gliscor into his Poké-ball. He felt a sharp jerk in his arm and turned to face Misty. "We. Are. Leaving." Her voice was sharp and commanding and Ash quickly nodded.

Misty led them through the crowd, Ash right behind her so they could stay together. They finally made their way out of the mob and ran as far away as possible, until they got to the other side of town and caught their breath. "Well, that was fun, right?" Ash asked and looked over at Misty, who looked highly annoyed, appropriately.

"I hate you," she said facetiously and pushed Ash to stand up straight.

"I'll take that as a yes."

She groaned and rolled her eyes, "can we do something that won't lead to you making a spectacle of yourself, please?"

Ash pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head, "sure, babe."

"Thank you," she muttered into his chest.

Ash smiled softly and cuddled her against his chest and buried his face in her bright red hair, her small little nose poked his muscular chest and his arms held her nimble body. He didn't care that she wasn't considered the sexiest and didn't have very big curves, he considered her insanely beautiful.

She pushed away from him and asked, "so where do you want to go?"

"I need to get some more Poké-balls and Potions and stuff," he said as he stepped to stand beside her.

"Sounds good," she said simply.

They made their way to the nearest Pokémart and almost crashed into Brock, who was just about to leave and still had Togepi and Pikachu. "It's just you two," Brock sighed.

"Yeah," Misty said, "we just needed to pick up a few things."

"You know, I heard there's a bit of a riot down at the market, does it have anything to do with a certain one of our friends?" Brock asked Misty and glared at Ash.

"Yeah," Ash looked down at his feet.

"I'll always be proud of you," Brock laughed and waited while his friends browsed the shelves.


	4. Chapter 4

Kaelyn sat, Ryder in the seat beside her, fidgeting out of worry. Both were seated in front of their boss, Jake's, desk, with Jake seated behind his massive oak desk, in a lavish leather chair. His office was by far the grandest in the entire office, if not the entire nation of Unova, seeing as he led it and all. Kaelyn couldn't keep herself quiet anymore and blurted, "are we in trouble?"

Ryder glared eat her, but Jake just laughed and smiled, "no, on the contrary. Right now, I actually really need the both of you for a _highly_ important job." Kaelyn and Ryder both breathed a sigh of relief but quickly sat back up in attention when Jake continued to speak, "now, as you both know, I would normally never even _think_ of sending both my most powerful and important employees out as far away as Hoenn."

"Wait, we're going to Hoenn?" Ryder leaned forward in his seat, Kaelyn looked at him and giggled, he heard her and blushed. Jake had a look of entertainment on his face at the couple, probably because neither he nor Lizzie ever acted like that.

"Yes," Jake chuckled, "now, have you two heard of a duo of feuding criminal organizations call Team Magma and Team Aqua?"

Kaelyn and Ryder looked at each other for a moment then both nodded.

"Good. Nearly every nation has heard about them, they really are making a name for themselves, a frankly hated one, but no one knows what their intentions are, how much power they really have, their methods, we simply don't know _who_ they are. So, that's what we need you two for, these groups could be a serious threat, and we want to ensure that we'll have the best of the best investigating them, and we have good tell they're located in Hoenn, so that's where we're sending you. You two need to investigate these teams and do anything to find out what they're planning, and if it's anything truly nefarious, I trust you two will leave those organizations in ruins."

Ryder and Jake looked back at Kaelyn and both men chuckled at her face, simply excited at the task they were given.

"Looks like we'll be ready to leave in the morning," Ryder said.

"Good, before you fly out there both of you will need to stop by the offices to collect a few things for your mission and, hopefully, some new intel."

Kaelyn leaned toward Ryder and whispered, "this'll be one hell of a mission. Sounds fun, though." They finally paid attention to their Pokémon, who were sitting, curled up, on the other side of the grand room. "So, it looks like Fennekin decided that she loves Lizzie more, huh?"

Jake rolled his eyes and said, "no, of course not, she loves Amelia the most. And Lizzie needed to train with her because that contest out on the coast is happening soon."

Kaelyn and Ryder laughed then Ryder asked, "she's taking Amelia with her, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sure you'll be glad to have that massive house to yourself," Kaelyn muttered and leaned back more casually in her chair. "I'm just glad I don't have to be worried about getting fired by you anymore, now I can just pick on you."

"There's the reason I hate that my wife is your best friend and that you're my daughter's godmother." Jake pointed at her to add emphasis to his words.

"Sorry, but I can't help it, tell Lizzie that she and I can't hang out anymore and she'll murder you. So have fun!"

"It is too fun watching you two argue if I didn't know any better I'd say that you two were brother and sister!" Ryder leaned back in his chair, away from both of them and observed.

Both Kaelyn and Jake glared at him, Eevee was watching with Zorua from a distance and finally perked up, looking back and forth from Zorua to her trainer. She always got agitated when Kaelyn talked like that with other people, just in case anything were to happen.

At this point Ryder had picked Kaelyn up, out of her seat and started carrying her to the door, "now seems like the time where we should leave. Thanks for the job though Jake, I can't make any promises about how she'll be tomorrow, though." Ryder looked down at his girlfriend and chuckled, Kaelyn was glaring at him, with near daggers in her eyes. Eevee and Zorua saw that they were leaving and hopped up to go with them too.

"By, the way, you can go ahead and leave to get your things together!" Jake called after them, red with laughter at the two.

Ryder carried her all the way to the elevator, his arm was still sore from where Kaelyn punched him after they passed Jake's secretary, who chuckled under his breath at her. Eevee and Zorua followed their trainers, looking completely entertained at the two all the way to the elevator, where Kaelyn continued to glare at Ryder for the full minute they stood there, alone. Once they reached the floor of Kaelyn's office all four stepped out and made a beeline towards the aforementioned room.

Kaelyn stopped walking midway through the room and finally said something, it was more of an incoherent squeal, but, something. Ryder let both Pokémon enter the room before him and closed the door behind him. He smiled at Kaelyn with a mix of amusement and exasperation on his face and muttered, "so I guess you're excited about going to Hoenn?"

"Well, of course," Kaelyn rolled her eyes, "we haven't been there in ages, it'll be so good to see that place again!"

"That's not really saying much is it, though? I mean. you get excited whenever we go to a place you'll be recognized and renowned, and last time I checked, that's fucking _everywhere_."

Kaelyn pouted at him, "you're mean!"

"No, babe, don't make me feel bad!" Ryder took a few large steps over and smothered Kaelyn in a hug.

"Okay, it was a joke, you can let go now!" Kaelyn nearly shouted as she squirmed around in his arms.

"Shut up, we both know you have emotions deep down inside of you… somewhere. I know this makes you feel fantastic." Then he playfully kissed her head.

"Define fantastic," Kaelyn muttered through gritted teeth.

"Fine," muttered Ryder, who let go of her and nearly flopped onto the elegant couch behind him. It was obvious Kaelyn's office had been decorated and designed with care, with it being clear the furnishings were done by Kaelyn due to the meticulous nature of the room. Ryder quickly reached out and grasped Kaelyn's wrist, pulling her down to sit in his lap with a laugh from both of them.

"Don't we need to leave?" Kaelyn asked.

"In a minute, but I'm horny right now." Ryder wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"Ryder!"

"We've done it on this couch before!"

"We might want to keep the office sex to a minimum, though."

"Fine, I guess you're right." Ryder rolled his head back and fell to the side, making Kaelyn giggle.

"Where are Zorua and Eevee?" Kaelyn looked around the room and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them playing in her desk chair. She always considered them a couple in their own right, kind of like the Pokémon version of Ryder and herself, especially when she saw them playing or curled up with each other at night, more than just friends, but also not just there for the romance of it all.

"You can stop worrying now," Ryder said so he could get her attention on the two of them again. "Can we at least make-out?"

Kaelyn kissed him gently for a while, then pulled away and whispered, "sure." He smiled against her neck and kissed it shortly and lightly over and over, giving attention to every inch of her smooth skin while she simply nuzzled his neck above. He ran his hands up and down her arms in a loving hold, before finally leaving a trail of kisses up to her lips and full on kissing her, hungrily and deeply. Kaelyn kissed back, just as strong, weaving and hand into his flaming red hair, slipping her tongue into his mouth, he tasted like whiskey and cinnamon, she always savored silent moments with Ryder when they did nothing but love each other.

Ryder kept a hand on the back of her head while they kissed, only separating to breathe and whisper to each other, constant assurances of love, compliments of appearance, anything you would say if you were caught in a wave of passion was said. "This is the time you can touch me," Kaelyn whispered in Ryder's ear, then occupied herself by kissing his jawline and neck while Ryder chuckled against her.

He pulled his hands slowly up her torso and massaged her breasts through her dress, while Kaelyn continued to kiss his neck with a smile on her lips. Ryder hid his face in her hair as he fondled his girlfriend.

Kaelyn rolled her hips against him, but Ryder stopped touching her and pulled himself away, "if we aren't going to fuck right here, then we need to stop because I am about to be _so_ -"

Ryder was interrupted when Kaelyn said, "okay, but, next time get me stop in a nicer way instead of making me feel like I did something wrong," she crossed her arms playfully and waited for him to nod or acknowledge her in some way.

"Yeah, of course," Ryder said and got up off the couch.

He walked over to Kaelyn's desk and picked up both Pokémon and turned to Kaelyn, "let's go."

"Sure." She walked over to the door and opened it for Ryder as he carried both Pokémon, who clearly didn't want to leave.

All four made it back to their apartment and Ryder set both Pokémon in the doorway, Kaelyn kissed his cheek and headed for their bedroom. She squeaked when she was stopped in her tracks as Ryder grasped her arm and pulled her back.

"Is there anything you need?" Kaelyn sighed.

Ryder smiled at her muttered, "I'm just door that I made you feel like you did something wrong, I _really_ didn't mean to."

Kaelyn kissed softly and whispered, "it's fine, we can fuck now if you want to…."

"After dinner, we have stuff to do right now." Ryder picked her up and carried her to their room.

"You just like showing off your muscle, don't you?" Kaelyn said once he put her down.

"Yep."

Kaelyn rolled her eyes and opened her closet. "So, we'll be walking to a lot of towns and going through a lot of forests, we'll have to pack light and limit ourselves to a backpack each," Kaelyn said as she fished around her closet and pulled out two hiking backpacks.

"That sounds like more of a problem for you than me," Ryder said and took the backpack Kaelyn was holding out to him.

She chuckled and muttered, "I truly hate to agree with you, but you're very right. Now, I'm guessing you _do_ want me to pack at least one pair of lingerie, right?"

"That shouldn't even be a question," Ryder muttered as he folded a dozen shirts, "it seems like laundromats are going to be our best friends for quite a while."

"luckily, we have the funds for it. Now, help me decide which clothes to pack, I know I want these shirts, shorts, and pants." Kaelyn pointed the neatly folded stack of clothes and slid them into her backpack. "we should pack at least two weeks' worth of clothes."

"Sounds good, and I don't care which bras and underwear you pack, they're all sexy."

"I'm so grateful that's your priority," she muttered and rolled her eyes.

Ryder quickly finished and watched as Kaelyn kept going back and forth between her favorite sweaters to sleep in and other clothes, she eventually finished and managed to cram three weeks' worth of clothes into her backpack, with much room to spare, just as Ryder did.

"No dresses? What if we need to perform some espionage?" Ryder joked mysteriously.

She sighed and muttered, "fine." She pulled her three favorite dresses out of her closet, folded them, then put them into her backpack. "Now, I want to see you pack a suit." Kaelyn looked at him challengingly, if she had to carry around dresses she might not even use on this trip, he'd have to do the same.

"Okay," he turned to his closet and packed his suit.

"Now, don't forget toiletries, hygiene is very important to me," Kaelyn instructed him. Both quickly made their way into their surprisingly large bathroom, considering the fact that the rest of the apartment was quite cozy, and quickly packed any and every toiletry they might need. Then, Kaelyn pulled out a makeup bag and quickly filled it with everything she'd need, making sure to pack multiple palettes, just in case.

They quickly added a few more things and were finally done packing, Ryder picked up both of their backpacks and set them down by the door. "It's your night to cook," he stood back up and looked at her with an inquisitive look in his eyes, wondering what she would attempt.

"Okay," she sighed, "do you want burnt chicken or charred vegetables?"

Ryder chuckled and pulled her closer, "surprise me."

"Hope it'll be edible," she muttered in his hold and quickly kissed him, then she turned out of his arm and waltzed over to the kitchen. Ryder left their apartment door open just a crack and went back to their room to grab his laptop, they used the second bedroom as an office and studio for Kaelyn because she had an even _more_ demanding job than Ryder and so she could do her art and not ruin their bedroom. So they jus put a desk for Ryder in their bedroom so he'd still have a place to work. He came back to the living room and sat down on their couch and immediately started reading over a new email from one of his colleagues.

Kaelyn's phone buzzed and she turned to check it, it was a text from Jake that said: _"you two will actually be leaving the day after tomorrow, that way we can work out the fine details with Hoenn's Department of Defense."_

She quickly texted him back so he knew she got it and told Ryder about their postponed departure. Ryder nodded and scratched behind Zorua's ears as he ran past his legs, having been playing with Eevee.

Suddenly Eevee squealed and Kaelyn rushed over to check on her Pokémon, she looked at one of Eevee's legs, it appeared that Zorua had bitten her, and blood started to seep out of the wound. Kaelyn quickly took her to the kitchen and set her on the counter, she looked in a cupboard until she found gauze and disinfectant, she grabbed a towel and immediately started tending to Eevee.

While Kaelyn was helping Eevee, Ryder sat up and started to scold Zorua, the Pokemon clearly looked and felt guilty, but he couldn't take Ryder's profuse yelling and darted out the apartment door. "Zorua!" Ryder shouted. It was just his luck that the door to the stairway down to the lobby was just a swing door and Zorua easily pushed through it, both boys sprinted down the stairs, Zorua going at least five at a time.

They darted through the lobby and Zorua made it out onto the street, weaving through the sea of commuters on the sidewalk. Ryder stopped once he stepped outside the building's door, the sidewalk was so congested with people, he had no idea which direction Zorua even went in. There was no way he could search the entire city, if the Pokémon really wanted to leave, he would get out by night's end, Zorua was smart, and Ryder knew that.

Kaelyn was cuddling Eevee in her arms and was standing at the door, waiting for Ryder to come back with Zorua. Eevee's arm had been wrapped in gauze so it could scab over and Eevee wouldn't get infected. Both girl's hearts dropped as they saw Ryder enter the apartment without his Pokémon, Eevee buried her head in the crook of Kaelyn's arm and let out a pathetic squeak.

Ryder looked at her like a lost child, his eyes told her everything, there was no way they could look for Zorua in this massive city, and he might be gone for good. Ryder's entire world shattered, Zorua was his best friend and had been insanely loyal to him no matter what, he was always able to make sure Ryder had a firm grip on reality. She set Eevee down on a chair, where she buried her face in her paws, and walked back to the kitchen, turning off the oven, so she wouldn't risk setting a fire.

She came back and silently hugged Ryder, he buried his face in her hair, eventually giving in, he began to sob, soaking her hair, but Kaelyn couldn't care less about that. His body shook against her's as his heaving sobs filled the apartment. Tears started form around her eyes and she silently began to sob with him. She led him to the couch where they continued to hold each other and sob until they couldn't anymore. Eevee eventually looked up and climbed into Kaelyn's lap, hiding her face behind her arms.

"We'll get him back I promise," Kaelyn said and looked into Ryder's red eyes, he was completely lost. "Honey, do you want to be alone?"

He sniffed and nodded, "yeah." He solemnly smiled at her and walked back to their bedroom, leaving Kaelyn alone, holding Eevee.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ryder, honey, dinner's ready if you're hungry," Kaelyn softly said, outside the closed bedroom door. "Ryder?" She opened the door and saw him lying on his side, blankly staring at the wall. She sat on the edge of the bed, right in front of him, looking down at him sympathetically, she rubbed his arm, trying to get him to look at her. "Please look at me," she almost begged, all he did in response was blink. Downcast, she kissed his cheek and put a blanket on him before leaving and closing the door behind her.

"Eevee, I think he's taking this harder than you…" Kaelyn whispered and squatted down to talk to her Pokémon. Eevee put her paws on Kaelyn's knees and whimpered, "honey, I wish I could say Zorua'll be back soon, but I don't know if we'll see him again. He's identical to every other Pokémon like him."

Eevee's ears dropped and she turned to slowly walk away, her tail between her legs. she jumped up into the soft, mint green armchair and hid half of her body under the Deerling-shaped pillow sitting on top.

Kaelyn's eyes turned to the floor and she walked to the kitchen, putting their dinner in the refrigerator and cleaned up the mess she left behind herself, humming the Unovan anthem to distract herself. She felt her eyes start to well up, she always hated herself when she cried, she did enough of that when her dad left.

Eevee squeaked when Kaelyn whispered to her, "I'm going to Lizzie's, do you want to come too? You'll get to see Fennekin…." Eevee gave in to Kaelyn's coaxing and hopped out of the chair, standing at Kaelyn's feet. Kaelyn smiled solemnly at her Pokémon and pulled her up into her arms.

Kaelyn quickly yelled to Ryder that she was leaving and heard a grunt of acknowledgment, she nodded shortly to herself and left the apartment with Eevee, locking the door behind. Once she got to the street, she waited at a bus stop, normally only used for tourists, it was the only one that operated any day of the week that had a route passing Lizzie's house.

After she settled at the stop, the people around her (appropriately, most were tourists) started whispering, most likely at the somber looks on both her and Eevee. Someone's Skitty approached her and sat at her feet, she meekly whispered, "hi, cutie."

The Skitty's trainer rushed over and pulled it away, clearly worried about annoying one of the most powerful people in the world. "Your Pokémon is adorable," Kaelyn whispered softly.

The brown-haired trainer smiled, nodded, and said, "thank you."

Kaelyn smiled back at him and turned back to the street, watched what should be her bus approach, passenger's head started to perk up when they saw her standing on the corner, she imagined them like bubbles rising in a pot of boiling water. Her eyes darted down to her right forearm, a fresh burn occupying nearly one-fourth of it, going into her current line of work, she had gotten used to this kind of constant injuries, she'd been burned nearly one hundred times, shot at least eighteen, seriously cut roughly one hundred fifty, and littered with thousands of bruises. Her latest burn came from a new Magmortar, who turned out to be very feisty, brought in by one of her colleagues.

The bus pulled up and any passengers that were planning on getting off got off. Kaelyn reached into her pocket and fished out her wallet, holding her credit card in her hand and hugging Eevee in the other. The driver's eyes widened once she stepped onto the bus, there were times when Kaelyn truly hated her celebrity, and quickly pushed her card away from where she would swipe it, repeatedly insisting that she didn't have to pay. After Kaelyn insisted that she should once, he continued trying to give her a free ride, at the time she didn't feel like fighting back and nodded, choosing a seat as far back as possible.

She was able to get a window seat and curled up into a tight ball, making sure not to smother Eevee, who was between her legs and chest. She hid her face in Eevee's fur, the Pokémon's ears hiding the majority of her face quite well. The last passenger finally boarded and the only open seat happened to be the one beside her. The man, though he looked more like a boy sat down and smiled in her direction, it took him a second to recognize her face. His bright, young, brown eyes grew and he immediately apologized for not acknowledging her sooner.

"It's really fine," Kaelyn assured him, "in fact I kind of like it when people don't notice me…."

"Really?" he asked, a strand of greasy hazelnut hair fell in front of his face and he exaggeratedly blew it away. Kaelyn had no idea how old he was, but he looked around nineteen, four years younger than her. He had happy, energetic eyes that darted around constantly, soaking in everything around him, he reminded her of a lost Deerling that she might've seen in one of the forests of her home region there was a sparkle that left his eyes nearly glazed like he was about to cry. The boy was quite gangly, with limbs that would suggest he was quite malnourished, but, under closer inspection, Kaelyn could see nicely defined ropes of muscle, they were thin, but definitely there.

"Yeah, I'm not a fan of constant attention, but then again, it's also quite endearing to know that your citizens really care about you." She felt Eevee squirm in her arms and loosened her grip, she must've subconsciously tightened around her before.

"The famous Eevee that led you to be so revered… she's quite cute."

"Thanks," Kaelyn muttered and turned Eevee to face him. "Hey, you know a lot about me so it's only fair if I get to ask your name."

"Archer," he said, "Archer Hutchinson. And I really like taking care of Pokémon and their health and I hope to be a qualified Pokémon physician, that's my dream and pretty much all I care about. Now, I have to ask, why are the both of you so sad? I've only ever seen you with gargantuan smiles on the television and online."

"We'll that's the me that I give to the public. My boyfriend and I have been best friends since we were toddlers, so we got our first Pokémon together, I obviously got Eevee, he got a Zorua and the four of us have always been a tight-knit group, and now that all four of us live together, we all just love each other. But, Zorua ran away today, so I need to go talk to someone, it's kind of tearing all three of us apart."

"I'm so sorry, I-I shouldn't have asked," Archer muttered and put a comforting hand on her wrist.

Kaelyn ignored the hand and said, "no, I think I actually kind of needed to say that, get it off my chest."

"Then I'm glad I could help," he muttered.

Suddenly, Kaelyn pulled her phone out of her pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to him. "Put your number in there, if anything happens to Eevee or any of my other Pokémon, you'll be my first call."

"Oh! Um, okay," he muttered, absolutely flustered. He quickly typed and handed her phone back.

"I hope you live up to expectation," Kaelyn said. "I knew I heard your name before, so you must be quite good."

"I wouldn't say I'm fantastic," he shrugged and wrapped his arms around himself.

"Like I said, we'll see. Then again, I put faith in nearly everyone. But the one thing I'm good at is accurately evaluating them, so I'm not worried." She turned to look out the window once the bus pulled to and stop and realized that they had reached her stop. "And this is where I get off," she said and maneuvered around Archer.

"Oh, okay," Archer said, "goodbye, it was nice talking to you."

"It was nice talking to you too," with those words Kaelyn turned on her heel, with Eevee in her arms and hurriedly rushed off the bus. She walked briskly along the sidewalk, keeping her head down to mask the sadness that occupied her face. She turned a corner and was met with the vast lawn of Lizzie and Jake's home, the place was massive and when Kaelyn first visited she got lost quite a few times. Kaelyn knew that Lizzie never really liked huge houses or places with a lot of empty space, so she would've been surprised that her friend chose to live here if not for the fact that this is where the leader of Unova and their family were supposed to live during their time in office.

The massive marble mansion sat far back on a perfectly manicured green lawn, it was a few blocks from the city, but it still was caught in the business and lights of it all. Kaelyn sighed and approached the tall metal gate, there was a small scanner perched on one of the columns supporting the gate, she quickly reached into her pocket and fished out her security card. She put it under the scanner and let the bright red light dance over the laminated card. The scanner beeped was it confirmed her card and the gate slowly opened with a loud creak.

A security guard greeted her and immediately stepped to the side when he saw who it was, she smiled faintly at him and continued hurriedly toward the door. She put her hand into the large metal knocker and pounded against the door one, two, three times before one of Jake's assistants opened the door. They looked at their feet and muttered a shy greeting when they saw her, Kaelyn greeted them too and walked into to grand foyer where thousands of imperial guests were introduced to the man who might end up being her brother-in-law.

Jake's oldest assistant, Ezra, caught her eye and knew immediately that she just wanted to see Liz and no one else. She and Ezra happened to be friends and went to college together, he was only one year below her, so he understood many of her facial expressions. He shooed everyone away and bounded over to her, "is everything okay?"

"Not really," Kaelyn muttered. Ezra put a comforting hand on her back and led her to the part of the house where Liz, Jake, and Amelia actually lived.

"Is there a problem with you and Ryder, or what?"

"Zorua ran away…."

Ezra's eyes widened he muttered, "so that's why Eevee looks like she wants to die."

"Yeah, pretty much." They both stopped when they entered the Glover's living room, Jake was on the floor playing with Amelia and Liz was reading on one of their couches with Fennekin taking a nap in her lap.

"Kaelyn, hi," Jake muttered, he held Amelia in his arms and she cuddled against one of his sides. "You know you're like a sister to be, but, why are you here?"

"Can I talk to Lizzie, please?"

Jake nodded, "sure," he turned back to Liz and told her, "I'm going to go ahead and put Amelia to bed, okay?"

"Of course," Liz told him, she kissed her husband and her daughter's forehead then watched them walk through the doorway. Ezra muttered a goodbye to both of the girls and they both nodded to him in acknowledgment.

"Kaelyn, what's the matter?" Liz looked worried and her voice had an odd manner about it, one Kaelyn only ever heard when Liz got worried about either of their relationships or if someone was bullying her.

"There aren't any problems with me and Ryder, well, I mean, he's certainly affected by what happened, even more than Eevee and I are, but our relationship isn't in jeopardy or anything." Kaelyn crazily rambled.

"Calm down, please," Liz clearly saw the tears threatening to break through and heard her throat tightening by the millisecond. Eevee couldn't bear to relive what happened and jumped out of Kaelyn's lap, rushing to the other side of the room then curling in a miserable ball on the bleached hardwood floor.

Kaelyn began to recount what happened and, at points in her tale, Kaelyn noticed Liz look over to Eevee, obviously trying to search for the bandage wrapped around her leg. After Kaelyn finished speaking, she was a teary mess and Liz wrapped her arms around her best friend's shoulders. Kaelyn buried her face into Lizzie's yellowy-blonde hair. Fennekin eventually woke up in Lizzie's lap to a shaking Kaelyn and looked around to find Eevee on the floor, she bounded over to her and tried to comfort her friend.

Jake came back and saw his wife holding her sobbing friend and sighed. He walked behind them and leaned toward Liz and asked, "What's going on?"

"Zorua ran away," Liz whispered quietly. Jake's eyes immediately flew open and he jumped over the back of the couch.

He took Kaelyn's shoulder in his hand and got her to look at him, his nearly black eyes were serious and intense, he knew how much Kaelyn and Ryder cared about that Pokémon, but he also knew how much of an asset Zorua was. Facing against such a small Pokémon would seem like it shouldn't be terrifying, most people knew better, though, it was well known that any Pokémon that was trained by Captain Ketchum or General Callaghan would be hell to face. Jake's eyes were piercing, "we'll get him back, I promise."

"Ryder and I lost him the second he ran into the street, I highly doubt we can search around town and just stumble across him."

"We'll have an announcement, we need both of you to function and be at the top of your game, especially now."

"I know, I know how much we're needed right now, but Zorua's nearly indiscernible from any other Pokémon of his species, it's been nearly impossible to find him. But, I promise I'll keep Ryder and myself on task, I really, truly mean it." She wiped away her tears and saw a sincere grin grow on Jake's face, it was a hard thing to make the man smile unless you were Liz or Amelia, Kaelyn had never seen him without a smile around either of them.

"Come here," he muttered, and pulled her into a hug, Liz watched from the side with a sad smile, she was also very close to Zorua, she kept on holding Kaelyn's hand through the entire exchange. Jake eventually let go of her, cueing Liz to let go of her hand. She shot up leaving both Glovers watching her from their seats.

"Thank you for all of this," Kaelyn muttered, she walked over to Eevee and pulled her into her arms off the floor and ruffled the top of Fennekin's head.

"Of course," Liz said and stood up to hug her friend one more time. "If you need anything, just call, you know I'll always help you out."

Kaelyn smiled at Liz again then said, "well, I ought to go home and help out Ryder. Bye, and I'll see you tomorrow, right?" She looked at Jake.

"Yeah, of course. Let me drive you home, please."

"Okay," Kaelyn muttered she walked out of the room with Eevee using the crook of her arm for shelter and Jake following behind her. They rushed through the house and ran across the lawn, avoiding the gaze of last minute tourists, they quickly fell into their seats and sat for moments in silence.

"I promise we'll find Zorua, it might take a while, but you and Ryder don't deserve that." Jake pulled her over and gave her a firm hug holding her for a few moments before finally letting go. They leaned back in their seats and pulled their seatbelt across their chests.

"Thanks, I don't know if it'll happen, but I needed that dose of optimism."


	6. Chapter 6

The following is from the film _Into The Minds Of Champions_.

 _The camera pans over two psychologists, who end up narrating the entire film. Both sit opposite each other, sitting in leather chairs. It was very clear that this was all a set and no one's real office, bookcases line the wall and there is a large, vintage wooden desk on the other side of the room, it looks like it's never been used. One man has primly cut salt and pepper hair and large horn-rimmed deep brown glasses. Wrinkles litter his face especially around his bright green eyes that look at least fifteen years younger than the rest of him. He had an almost permanent hint of a smile, but it never gets larger than just a shadow of a grin. A short beard, identical to his hair covers his chin and jawline._

 _The other man looks at least twenty years his senior and has nearly silver wisps of hair on his half bald head and has droopy hazelnut eyes, if the other man has a lot of wrinkles, this one was made of them. It's as if someone decided to crumble his face one day like a piece of paper and did a horrific job of flattening it back out. He lacks glasses and has very thin lips that almost look like a gnarled scar, but when he begins to speak a very surprising deep voice rings through the room, magnified by the microphones, he introduces himself as Professor Bloomberg and his younger companion as Doctor Hertz._

 _"_ _Today we'll be analyzing the techniques of some of the greatest trainers in our modern history, including the rising star Kaelyn Isabelle Ketchum," he folds his hands in his lap and the screen cuts to videos of different trainers, certain members of each region's Elite Four and their Champions, each of them battling with a voiceover of the men talking in oddly soothing voices. Then the last clip starts playing, a sixteen-year-old Kaelyn appears on one end of a battlefield and the champion of Unova, Alder._

 _Kaelyn looks much younger, but her eyes look as wise and endless as ever, her hair is in a brown spiraling ponytail. She is wearing a printed crop top with the Eevee evolution family on it, she also wears high waisted denim shorts with black leggings underneath and a pair of black ankle boots. Eevee sits proudly at her side with her fur freshly groomed. Kaelyn's eyes dart around the arena, analyzing every possible factor in the area, she then looks Alder directly in the eyes, his are just as intense as her's, but it was still clear who wanted to win more. Kaelyn shouts the name if one of her Pokémon and Sylveon appears in front of her, Alder sends out Escavalier._

 _The screen cuts away and Bloomberg and Hertz they've already spoken about Alder over footage of him in his twenties, about thirty years ago. "Miss Ketchum is probably one of the most intimidating and intelligent trainers the Pokémon league has ever seen. She clearly had a vast knowledge of each Pokémon and their behaviors, along with attacking patterns and a catalogue of each Pokémon's possible moves. She seems to also be able to tell what move her opponent is going to use and how they're going to use it. It's almost as if she can read minds, but that's impossible, so we have to chalk it all up to hyper-intelligence."_

 _"_ _Using this strategy and her wealth of knowledge she was able to defeat Lance of Johto when she was only twelve and Steven of Hoenn at fourteen, making her the youngest winner of any Pokémon Regional Tournament ever. Even though she had the qualifications to become champion -and at this point she has defeated every standing champion of every region- she denied the opportunity and continued her journey through our entire world." Bloomberg says, his words rolling oddly soothingly off of his tongue. "She then applied to the top law schools in the world and got into National Unova Law Academy, a world renown school of law that has been known to produce the best lawyers and most successful politicians in the world. After defeating her last champion, Cynthia of Sinnoh, at the young age of eighteen, she accepted a full scholarship to the esteemed school."_

 _"_ _People have always been surprised that she never chose to evolve her Eevee, at first people laughed, but now the Pokémon is debatably the most terrifying Pokémon any challenger will face. She has made being friends with her Pokémon and being partners with them instead of just their trainer part of her trademark and an essential part of how she is perceived. She's been shown to laugh and run around with her Pokémon, even people who knew her from her first days as a Pokémon trainer say if her Pokémon would need a boost of confidence she would look them in the eye and start talking to them. It seems the first thing she does with a new Pokémon is befriend them, which might be the secret to her success as she as her Pokémon know each other so well." Hertz rambled._

 _Bloomberg picks up for his colleague, "it is also safe to assume that the girl has a vast knowledge of the human mind which is why she seemingly knows_ exactly _what her opponent is about to do an plans accordingly, letting her Pokémon show off a series of perfect and powerful moves to take down her opponent swiftly and barely damage her team. A pattern we've seen with her is the way she focuses on eyes, not just the eyes of trainers but the eyes of Pokémon, she always looks into the eyes dead on, as if she could analyze every part of the brain from them."_

 _The two men continue talking about Kaelyn's strategies and every once in a while the screen cuts to a shot of her fighting different opponents and different kinds of teams. Eventually the screen cuts to black after the two men say goodbye._

Reinhold sighs and turns the television off, rolling his head back and closing his eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ryder, please look at me," Kaelyn asked and reached for his arm. Ryder was looking out the window of their plane on the way to Hoenn, pressing his head against the body of the plane, his red hair at a nearly laughable contrast with the white walls. He sighed and held her hand but refused to look in her direction. Eevee was napping in Kaelyn's lap and noticed the disappointment in her trainer's eyes and put her paws on Ryder's arm.

Ryder smiled faintly and turned toward both of them, his eyes still clearly sad. "Yes?" he asked.

"Honey, you know Jake's doing all he can to find Zorua, I promise, I would've made him let you stay home."

"I know, but I can't help but miss him, he's kind of my best friend," Ryder looked down at his feet while he spoke. Kaelyn nodded to show him she understood and leaned onto his chest. Eevee put her paws down and curled back up in Kaelyn's lap while Ryder wrapped an arm around Kaelyn and pulled her closer, resting his head on hers. For the rest of the plane ride, they all sat together in silence, getting the occasional look from their fellow passengers, probably intrigued by the fact that two of the most famous people in the world were flying coach, hell flying in a commercial plane.

They landed in Lilycove City and quickly dropped their bags off in their hotel room and decided to explore the routes around the city. Ryder seemed happier outside, walking alongside Kaelyn and being led by Eevee. Kaelyn was the one who suggested they take a walk, knowing that Ryder always felt better outside, just like her, she learned that when he ever lost a gym battle, (which only happened twice) and she and Lizzie would force him to walk on the nearest route to make him feel better.

"Ryder," Kaelyn muttered.

He stopped and turned to her and asked, "yeah?"

Kaelyn smiled and jumped onto his back. Ryder laughed and wrapped his arms under her legs, Eevee had stopped prancing proudly in front of them and turned to wait for the couple, sitting on the ground and watching expectantly. "Onward!" Kaelyn announced and pointed forward proudly.

Ryder bellowed with laughter and rushed forward with Kaelyn on his back, once he passed Eevee she started to run along beside them, both lovers were laughing as they raced through the trees surrounding them. Pokémon occasionally looked at the three and Ryder finally stopped when two, much younger, trainers stopped walking in their tracks to stare at them. Kaelyn and Ryder looked at each other, both of their faces growing bright red, Eevee was trailing behind both of them so Kaelyn whimpered when Eevee ran into Ryder's leg.

Kaelyn jumped off Ryder's back and scooped Eevee up into her arms, "honey, are you okay?" Eevee nodded and nuzzled her nose into the crook of Kaelyn's arm.

"Babe," Ryder tapped Kaelyn's shoulder, causing her to turn around. Apparently, both young trainers had rushed over, one a bright blue-haired young girl (Kaelyn secretly appreciated her hairdresser, who did a clearly fantastic job of dying the girl's hair) and a slightly taller girl with blonde hair, so yellow she resembled a Pikachu.

"Hello," Kaelyn said pleasantly and reached out her hand for both of them to shake it. She gave them an entertained smile when both girl's jaws dropped, at least she knew she was still recognized by the younger people in other regions.

"H-hi," the blonde girl stammered, "yo-you're Captain Kaelyn Grace Ketchum! OH MY GOD!" Both girls started to jump for a moment, their eyes huge in admiration.

"And you're General Ryder James Callaghan, sir, ma'am, you two are AMAZING!" this time the blue haired girl was speaking

"They're squealing again and it's hurt Eevee's ears," Kaelyn whispered to him. "Thank you, so much, but I'm not really that great, my Pokémon are the ones who're doing all the real fighting."

"And that must be your Eevee, she's so cute!" the blue haired one said again, "Would you mind if we pet her?"

"It's Eevee's decision," Kaelyn said and waited for Eevee.

She jumped out of Kaelyn's arms and onto the ground in front of the girl's feet, sitting confidently, resuming her proud demeanor that always made Kaelyn and Ryder chuckle. Both girls darted down into a squat and scratched the top of her head, Eevee looking satisfied and proud the entire time. "Are you two sure you should be out so late? We're here because of the rumors about teams Magma and Aqua."

"So you guys have heard about that?" the blonde said, both girls still paying attention to Eevee.

"Yeah, have you guys heard anything about them?" Kaelyn asked and dropped a treat from her pocket onto the ground for Eevee.

"Not really, there've been some people who got robbed of their Pokémon and I think there was some robbery at the National Museum of Hoenn, but as far as we know that's it. I think most of the robberies took place in Sootopolis City," the blue haired girl muttered. Just like her friend, the blue haired girl never took her eyes off Eevee.

Ryder and Kaelyn glanced at each other, both clearly understanding something the young girls didn't. Other than the disturbing fact that trainers were being robbed of their Pokémon, their companions and their friends, the robbery at the Museum of Hoenn was terrifying. While the Museum held many valuable things, it also held allegedly supernatural things, frankly, Kaelyn and Ryder couldn't say they believed all the myths of their world, but there were some that they found had to be true. The National Museum of Hoenn held the Red Orb and the Jade Orb, there was supposedly a third, Blue Orb, but it had never been found. The stories behind it nearly terrified Kaelyn as a girl, she couldn't help but worry about it at night and she'd sometimes end up being brought into her parent's room by her father.

The tale was simple enough, it was more the potential that worried Kaelyn so much because of her fear of drowning. The stories always said that if you knew where either Groudon or Kyogre were resting and you had the correct Orb you could summon and control them, the only people who would ever want to do that would be the people that had evil intentions, and Kaelyn knew that. But, if you had the wrong Orb you wouldn't be able to properly control either Pokémon, leading them to wreck havoc over the entire world. Kyogre controlled the seas, which terrified Kaelyn, she was truly afraid of dying by drowning.

"Thank you for telling us," Ryder said, he knew Kaelyn's fear and worry, so he reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"Girls, maybe the both of you should get back in the city or with your guardians, just please go somewhere safe, it's getting late," Kaelyn muttered.

"Yeah. I guess you're right, my parents are probably waiting for us at the hotel," the blonde muttered. The blue haired girl nodded and they waved goodbye as they ran off down the road back to the city, Kaelyn and Ryder waved back and walked around a bit more with Eevee following them.

After a couple moments of wandering around and watching wild Pokémon as the sun went down, both agreed to go back to their hotel room to contact the Museum of Hoenn to see what was stolen. Kaelyn couldn't help but think that the Red and Jade Orbs were what was stolen and that terrified her. "Fuck," she kept on muttering for the entire walk back to their hotel, getting worried looks from Ryder. Kaelyn wished that she couldn't see herself flailing around in the water, struggling for survival, she shuddered and shook the idea off, getting a comforting arm from Ryder.

"Thanks for the distraction, at least," Ryder whispered to her referencing Zorua's disappearance. Kaelyn let out a barely tolerant chuckle, and looked down at her feet, seeing Eevee prancing in front of her unaware of her trainer's stress and fear.

They finally made it back to their hotel room and Kaelyn immediately called the museum, and while the phone was ringing she assumed her role as Ryder's boss and told him to search for any news stories about the Pokémon robberies. Ryder pulled his laptop out if his luggage and sat cross-legged on their bed with Eevee curled up in his lap. Kaelyn paced the room while the phone was ringing and involuntarily caught her breath when someone answered.

"Hello, this is the National Museum of Hoenn, how may I help you," a pleasant female voice said on the other side of the phone. Although what the woman said was clearly rehearsed, Kaelyn took silent comfort in that.

"Yes, this is Captain Kaelyn Ketchum of Unova, I was curious about the alleged robberies that took place at your establishment recently." And there she went into her classic sophisticated demeanor and elegant voice that she took whenever she had to make any public announcement or do business. She personally hated that voice, it wasn't her and she wanted to be as honest as possible with the citizens of Unova, but she was never able to get rid of it.

"Oh!" the woman said, "of course Ms. Ketchum."

"Thank you."

"I should probably transfer you to the museum curator if you want to know the details if this is for an investigation.

"That would be fantastic, thank you so much, ma'am," Kaelyn glanced over at Ryder on the bed and wanted to see Zorua sitting with his paws over his legs or curled up with Eevee on a pillow, licking her head affectionately.

The woman's voice snapped her back to reality, "it's no problem at all ma'am."

Kaelyn had to wait for quite a while to be transferred to the curator, so she sat next to Ryder and rested her head on his shoulder. "This feels weird, really weird," she whispered.

"I know, I'm not used to Zorua being gone," Ryder sniffled and scratched Eevee behind the ears. A tear rolled down his cheek, Kaelyn knew that he was dying inside, but was very happy that he was doing his job, she still wanted to comfort him, though.

She reached for his hand and squeezed it, "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Ryder opened his mouth to speak but stopped once the curator announced his presence. "Captain Ketchum, hello!" A cheery voice said.

"Hello, sir."

"Captain, if you wouldn't mind my asking, but why the hell are you curious about the robberies here?"

"General Callaghan and I are investigating Teams Magma and Aqua on behalf of the agreement between Unova and Hoenn, which was created because of these team's possible threats. The General and I believe that the robberies that took place at your establishment might have something to do with it." And there was that goddamn voice again, Ryder laughed at her from the bed, he knew about the voice too.

"Oh, well then," the curator took a moment to think and remember everything and rambled off information. "The robbery happened last Wednesday and only the Red and Jade Orbs were stolen at around eight thirty-four pm, we had guards on duty just like every night, but the following morning we found each one unconscious and two dead. There were no fingerprints, no signs of forced entry, whoever did it, not saying it was a member of either organization, really knew what they were doing. There's barely anything to tell, these criminals are smart and made sure to leave nothing behind, there's barely any evidence at all."

"Thank you so much, sir, it really helps a lot. Have a good evening."

"You have a good evening too, Captain."

After that the phone beeped and hung up, Kaelyn sighed and fell backward on the bed. She grabbed the pillow beside her head and pulled it close to her, curling up in a ball on the bed. Ryder laughed and cooed at her, falling backward too and pulling her in his grasp and pressing her against his body.

"How did I get such an adorable and perfect girlfriend?" He kissed the top of her head and moved his laptop to the bedside table, letting Eevee sit on top of his chest.

"Did you find anything?" She propped herself up on his chest with her elbows and looked him in the eyes.

"Nope."

"This is going to be fucking impossible."

"Yup."


	8. Chapter 8

Kaelyn and Ryder had decided to travel to Sootopolis City to investigate the robbery of the Red and Jade Orbs. Lucky for them, the police department of Sootopolis City made sure to keep the place of the robbery blocked off from the public and kept the autopsy records of the two dead security guards.

They got quite a few awed stares as they walked through the Museum being led by a young blonde officer from the Sootopolis PD. He had given them a very detailed description of all the evidence and their idea of how everything happened the week before. The officer obviously seemed to be intimidated by Ryder, but still made short flirtatious quips at Kaelyn. Ryder only ever glanced at her when the officer made his remarks.

They were given pictures of the crime scene before and after and tried to identify any changes that might give them a clue as to who did it after they scanned over the profiles of each suspect and found nothing.

"These fuckers are pretty damn good," Kaelyn noted while they were reviewing the files.

After investigating the crime scene itself, the both realized that Kaelyn couldn't have been more right, all of the glass compartments lacked any foreign fingerprints, there wasn't a hint of DNA evidence, and the security cameras were wirelessly shut down for the time that the robbery took place. Ryder was secretly a fantastic programmer and he spent hours searching for any trace of where the hacker's computer was or what computer was used to take down the cameras and found absolutely nothing.

"How do we even know that this robbery had anything to do with the teams?" Kaelyn finally thought aloud when the two got back to their hotel room and threw herself down on the bed.

"We don't, but it probably does," Ryder muttered and laid down beside her. "There's not much reliable information about them anyways, seems we'll just have to travel around and investigate ourselves."

"Okay, at least we know they're in this region, right?"

"Last time I checked, Hoenn's pretty damn big."

"So, should we just do stuff like when we were trainers and travel around on our own, maybe then we might even meet some members of these organizations."

"Sounds good, but for now we are staying in this hotel room and I am going to make love to my adorable girlfriend," Ryder muttered and rolled over to press against her back.

"As long as you're talking about me, then please, go ahead."

"Thank the universe I am," he rolled above her and kissed her roughly, pushing her shirt up and helping her pull it over her head.

Kaelyn's soft curls bounced as she, Ryder, and Eevee strolled through one of the many forests of Hoenn, the constant sounds of wild Pokémon tittering and communicating surrounded the group. Butterfree, Vivillion, Furret, and Pikipek, along with dozens of other Pokémon species ran around and played together. Ryder looked up at one of the lush, green trees and saw a Hoothoot shielding its child as they slept through the day, Ryder pointed it out to Kaelyn and she cooed at the Pokémon.

Eevee stopped walking once a Buneary ran past, Eevee squealed and followed it eagerly.

"Eevee!" Kaelyn shouted and ran after her Pokémon, Ryder running behind her. Both of them had been on high alert around Eevee ever since Zorua ran away back in Unova. Pokémon ran out of their way as they chased the little Pokémon through the foliage.

Kaelyn let out a grunt as she ran into something, she heard another grunt, this one sounded like it came from a man and looked up to see a man around her age. She rubbed her nose and felt Ryder stop running beside her. "Sorry sir, I didn't mean to run into you," she apologized.

"It's fine, are you okay, though?" he looked up and was rubbing his chest where Kaelyn had ran into him.

"Yeah, my nose isn't bleeding so I'd say I'm fine."

"Good," he breathed and smiled broadly.

"Have you seen an Eevee run past anywhere?" Ryder butted in and asked.

"Oh, yeah, I just saw one chasing my Buneary." Kaelyn and Ryder both looked highly relieved, so he asked, "is it yours?"

"Yes, sir, she's mine," Kaelyn breathed and smiled when she felt Eevee brush up against her leg. "Hey sweetie," she whispered quietly to Eevee and pulled her into her arms.

"Thanks, um, well, we don't really know your name…" Ryder said.

"My name's Raymond." His eyes danced across their faces, "have we met before?"

Ryder and Kaelyn quickly glanced at each other, "no, I don't think we have," Ryder told him.

Kaelyn's eyes darted to Raymond's backpack and saw black and blood-red outfit falling out of it, she saw part of Team Magma's logo, or at least the one officially attributed to the organization by the public and by the governments worldwide. The top of Team Magma's "M" peered out in mountainous peaks. She quickly made eye contact with Ryder and looked back at the outfit, signaling him to look in that direction.

"Hey, dude looks like your backpack's open," Ryder nodded toward Raymond's back. "Let me close it for you.

Raymond's eyes flew wide open and hastily, and sloppily, closed his backpack, leading Kaelyn to formulate even more questions about him. Raymond chuckled nervously at the both of them, clearly trying to cover up his actions, clearly, he knew how suspicious both of them were.

"Well, um, we should be leaving," Kaelyn said to Ryder.

"Okay," Raymond said, " it was nice meeting you two."

"Yeah… it was nice meeting you, too, the other too," Ryder awkwardly said. Kaelyn walked past Raymond with Ryder following her, Eevee squealed when she saw Raymond's Buneary sitting behind his feet. Kaelyn kept walking and suddenly stopped once she couldn't see Raymond anymore, causing Ryder to bump into her back.

"Ow, why the hell did we stop?" Ryder asked.

"Cause we're gonna follow Raymond, he's clearly part of Team Magma, let's see what we can find out," Kaelyn told him.

"Oh, good plan. But what if he catches us?"

"We're two of the best Pokémon trainers in the world, I think we can take him on," she rolled her eyes.

"Fair enough." Ryder looked back to where Raymond was standing and waved Kaelyn to stand behind him. They both watched as Raymond summoned Buneary back into its Poke-ball and checked his backpack for something, he pulled some sort of smartphone out of it and frantically typed something before shoving the phone-like thing into his pocket.

Raymond started to walk away, and, after they could barely see him, Kaelyn, Ryder, and Eevee started to follow him stealthily.


End file.
